Degree Programme Handbook

Transcription

1 MA in MUSEUM STUDIES Degree Programme Handbook Programme Coordinator Dr Rodney Harrison Room 605 Ph: Programme Moodle Site

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3 CONTENTS CONTENTS... 1 INTRODUCTION... 3 AIMS, OBJECTIVES AND OUTCOMES OF THE DEGREE... 3 Aims... 3 Objectives... 3 Learning outcomes... 4 PROGRAMME STRUCTURE... 4 Core courses... 4 Option courses... 6 Dissertation... 7 Summary of course structure, assessments and submission deadlines... 7 Museum visits... 8 Work placement... 8 TEACHING SCHEDULE... 9 Part-time students... 9 TEACHING METHODS... 9 Approach to teaching and learning... 9 Participation and group work PREREQUISITES DEGREE ASSESSMENT Distinction Merit Pass Fail COURSEWORK Method of assessment Originality and referencing Presentation Submission of coursework Penalties for late submission without permission Turnitin Grading

4 Timescale for return of marked coursework to students Word-length Re-submission of coursework Return of coursework ORAL EXAMINATION WORKLOAD DYSLEXIA AND OTHER DISABILITIES MOODLE COMMUNICATION ATTENDANCE HEALTH AND SAFETY FEEDBACK INFORMATION AND LITERATURE Directories Journals Books and readers Websites and online resources APPENDIX 1: Course overview for part-time students APPENDIX 2: How to upload your work to Turnitin

5 INTRODUCTION This is the Handbook for the MA degree programme in Museum Studies. It outlines the aims and objectives, structure and content of the degree, and includes outlines of the core courses and of the most relevant options available this year. It is also available on the Institute of Archaeology web site. This Handbook should be used alongside the MA/MSc Handbook (also available on the Institute web site), which contains information about all MA and MSc degrees, and options within them, being taught this year. Students should consult that Handbook if they need information about an option outside those normally offered within the present programme. The MA/MSc Handbook gives essential information on a range of topics, from enrolment to guidance on the dissertation, so students should ensure that they read it carefully. Distributed along with the MA/MSc Handbook are maps of the College precinct and surrounding area of London, the complete MA/MSc teaching timetable and the list of Personal Tutors to MA and MSc students. Students should consult this list to find out who is to be their Personal Tutor for the year, and students should make contact with them soon after their arrival to arrange a meeting. If students have queries about the organisation, objectives, structure, content or assessment of the degree, they should consult the Programme Coordinator. AIMS, OBJECTIVES AND OUTCOMES OF THE DEGREE The MA in Museum Studies provides a broad academic and professional training in all aspects of museum work, whilst encouraging students to reflect critically on the concept of the museum and its associated practices. Aims To provide a wide-ranging and challenging introduction to the theoretical issues involved in contemporary museum practice as a sociologically-informed and socially-situated discipline; To encourage critically aware perspectives on professional practice and research processes; To provide an in-depth understanding to approaches to the documentation, interpretation, presentation and preservation of curated materials in museums; To provide practical skills relevant to a professional career in the museum and galleries sector. Objectives The compulsory core courses are designed to provide students with a good understanding of, and critical engagement with, contemporary museum practice and theory. Further option courses can be chosen to enable students to focus on particular 3

6 areas of museum expertise. A museum-based placement provides a context for developing practical work-orientated skills. A supervised research project is undertaken in order to write the dissertation, which allows specific practical, analytical and interpretive skills to be developed in more depth. Students may also learn general transferable skills by taking advantage of the many facilities offered by UCL, including courses offered by UCL s Graduate School, its Language Centre, and the pre-eminent library facilities of UCL and the University of London (Senate House). Learning outcomes As a result of the course you should feel confident that you: Understand techniques and research relating to the key museum functions of collections care and management; communication with the public; uses of digitisation; and the management of human, material and financial resources; Are familiar with current theoretical perspectives in museum studies and related academic fields; Know the history of museum development and of current museological and heritage issues in national, international and cross-cultural contexts; Are familiar with the breadth of museological literature and how to access it; Have developed general transferable skills that will be useful whatever your future path (e.g. research, writing and communication skills, interpersonal skills, use of IT, managerial skills); Have the core skills relevant to a museum professional, which may include collections care procedures, packing and storing objects, documentation, collections-based research, exhibition production, and display evaluation; Are able to discuss and evaluate alternative perspectives on museum issues; Can undertake independent research resulting in a dissertation. PROGRAMME STRUCTURE The programme of study for this degree is intended to help students meet the objectives outlined above, and also to provide an opportunity for them to achieve any additional personal objectives. It comprises four compulsory core courses, two option courses, a dissertation, a work placement and a programme of museum visits. Each course addresses a specific subject and has its own coordinator. Core courses The Museum: Critical Perspectives [ARCLG064, Term 1, 15 credits] Course Coordinator: Johanna Zetterstrom-Sharp This course aims to provide an introduction to the history and theory of museums. It does so by approaching the museum from a series of critical perspectives, considering the museum, in turn, as collection, as institution, as architecture, as exhibition, as site of memory, and as venue for social advocacy. It explores these different 4

7 conceptualisations of the museum by drawing on case examples which reflect a diversity of museum contexts, including art museums, ethnographic museums, natural history museums, social history museums, science museums, and so forth in different regional and cultural settings. The course considers the representational role of museums in nation building, and their entanglement in localising and globalising processes; it explores the museum s relationship to memory and commemoration; its social roles and responsibilities; and its extension into digital domains. Building on a tradition of critical museology, the course seeks to provoke students into questioning what a museum is and does, and what it can be. It seeks to provide the broader historical and theoretical context to enable students to engage critically with contemporary museum practice. Collections Management and Care [ARCLG148, Term 1, 30 credits] Course Coordinator: Johanna Zetterstrom-Sharp The management of collections is the foundation for many other museum activities. The aim of this course is to provide students with a thorough knowledge of the theory and practice of collections management and care, including the acquisition and disposal of collections; museum documentation; museum photography; stores and collections access; handling and examination of objects; preventive conservation, etc. Having taken the course students should understand why collections management is important, have a good practical idea of how to go about the different aspects of it, understand the wider picture of some of the ethical issues involved, and gain a sense of what interesting things a museum can do if its collection is in good order. The course is taught in collaboration with UCL Museums & Collections through a series of workshops. Managing Museums [ARCLG065, Term 1, 15 credits] Course Coordinator: Tim Schadla-Hall This course aims to familiarize students with organisational and financial structures of museums in the UK and beyond, and to acquaint them with issues and techniques associated with museum management. It aims to demonstrate that understanding management issues is essential to the effective running of museums. The course is largely focused on museum operations in the UK but many of the speakers have a far wider expertise and draw upon examples for overseas. Topics covered include an overview of museum structures, legislation, conventions and ethics, management theory, strategic planning and performance measurement, management of human and financial resources, communication, fundraising and sponsorship, commercial activities, marketing, training and safety issues. Museum Communication [ARCLG190, Term 1, 15 credits] Course Coordinator: Theano Moussouri This is an evidenced-based course, which aims to foster a broad understanding of the general principles of effective communication with visitors to museums. Combining sound practice, research and theory grounded in communication, learning theory and visitor studies literature, the course covers the following subjects: museums and their audiences, learning in museums, theories of learning, museum communication, visitor studies, evaluation methods, data analysis and interpretation. 5

8 Option courses In addition to the four core courses, students take two 15 credit option courses. Normally, students select options from those available within or particularly relevant to the Museum Studies degree programme (listed below), but, in exceptional circumstances, they may also select an option from those available in other Masters degree programmes taught in the Institute of Archaeology or in another department at UCL after discussion with and subject to the agreement of the Programme Coordinator. Full details of all Institute of Archaeology postgraduate courses may be found at Recommended option courses for the MA in Museum Studies are: Collections Curatorship [ARCLG192, Term 2, 15 credits] Course Coordinator: Rodney Harrison The aim of this course is to introduce students to the core skills of a curator: to understand objects and how to research them, and to understand collections and the added meaning that forming objects into collections can create. The course provides an opportunity for students to acquire such skills through working in groups on object research and documentation projects. Research groups benefit from curatorial support of museum staff as well as a series of workshops and lectures focusing on different aspects of curating and researching collections. As with the Museum Studies MA programme as a whole, the course aims to combine academic rigour with professional skills training. Exhibition Project [ARCLG191, Term 2, 15 credits] Course Coordinator: Theano Moussouri This is an intensive practical course that seeks to apply the general principles of effective communication with visitors presented in the Museum Communication course through students involvement in an interpretative project. It seeks to provide students with the theoretical and practical knowledge needed to set up, develop and deliver an exhibition project in a museum setting. Topics covered include: managing an exhibition project, developing and running educational and learning services, communicating through text and images, working with consultants. Other popular option courses: Issues in Conservation: Context of Conservation [ARCLG141, Term 1, 15 credits] Issues in Conservation: Understanding Objects [ARCLG142, Term 2, 15 credits] Conservation in Practice: Preventive Conservation [ARCLG140, Term 1, 15 credits] Antiquities and the Law [ARCLG185, Term 2, 15 credits] Cultural heritage, globalisation and development [ARCLG209, Term 2, 15 credits] Subject to space and the agreement of the Course Coordinators involved, students are usually welcome to attend courses in addition to those for which they are formally registered. Please get in touch with Course Coordinators well in advance. 6

9 The dissertation of 10,000 words is a report or extended essay on an original piece of research undertaken by the student, the topic chosen being relevant within the general area covered by the Museum Studies MA. Soon after arrival, students should discuss their area of research interest with their Programme Coordinator, who will help them focus their ideas for their dissertation, or refer them to another member of staff who will be able to provide more specific advice, and will probably be appointed to be the student s Dissertation Supervisor. They will help the student define their dissertation topic, and provide guidance through the main stages of the work. The dissertation provides a further opportunity for students to define and pursue their own particular interests and career objectives. It might be used to apply newly learned theoretical or methodological approaches to a museum-related issue, or to gain greater experience with data analysis. Students may choose a topic linked with their museum placement or workplace. The dissertation may be regarded as a one-off research project, as a pilot study for Ph.D. research, or use it to showcase their skills to potential employers. The deadline for submission of the dissertation is 15th September As with other coursework, dissertations must also be submitted electronically via Turnitin (class ID: , password: IoA1314). Guidelines for researching, writing and producing the dissertation are included in the MA/MSc Handbook. Dissertation writing workshops will also be held as part of the core course ARCLG064 The Museum: Critical Perspectives. The IoA also runs advisory sessions on preparing dissertations in term 2 (more information will be provided closer to the time). Summary of course structure, assessments and submission deadlines Course ARCLG064 The Museum: Critical Perspectives ARCLG148 Collections Management and Care ARCLG065 Managing Museums ARCLG190 Museum Communication Option course 1 Option course 2 ARCLG268 Museum Studies Placement Dissertation Coursework length and type 3,800-4,200 word essay 7,600 8,400 word portfolio 1,425-1,575 word report 2,375-2,625 word essay 1,900-2,100 word essay 1,900-2,100 word report See course handbook See course handbook Submission deadline Credits 9 Dec Jan Nov Feb Nov Jan 2014 See course handbook See course handbook ,375-2,625 report 26 Jun ,000 word dissertation 14 Sep

10 Museum visits Museum visits are an important part of the course. An organised programme of visits is scheduled to take place on Mondays in Term 1, although other visits may also be arranged in connection with option courses at other times. Visits are usually led by course coordinators or tutors, who typically arrange to go behind the scenes to explore particular aspects of museums. Talks and discussions are often arranged with museum staff. Students are expected to attend all visits; part-time students may spread visits across the two years of their studies. Students are expected to make their own travel arrangements to museums within the London area, but transport will be provided when travelling further afield. The schedule of museum visits will be provided near the beginning of Term 1 and can be consulted at the programme Moodle site. In addition to the organised museum visits, students are strongly encouraged to visit as many museums as possible in their own time. Particular recommendations for visits will be discussed in class. Work placement Work placements are a vital part of the Museum Studies programme. Students are required to undertake a minimum of twenty days of supervised work in a museum or related organisation as a compulsory and assessed part of the degree. Placements are arranged by Charlotte Frearson (c.frearson@ucl.ac.uk) in consultation with the Theano Moussouri, co-ordinator of the ARCLG268 Museum Studies Placement module. Recent placements have taken place in a wide range of museums, including: Brent Museum, the British Museum, Croydon Museum, Event Communications, the Freud Museum, Hackney Museum, London Transport Museum, the Museum of London, RAF Museum, the Royal Academy, Royal Botanical Gardens, Royal Historical Palaces, St Paul s Cathedral, Tate Britain and UCL Museums & Collections. Prior to the start of Term 1, a placement questionnaire will be distributed to students requesting information regarding their existing museum experience and preferences for their placement. We then attempt to match students preferences with our database of current placement opportunities. Students are also able to arrange their own placements if desired, although it is still necessary for them to liaise with Charlotte Frearson since this is a formal, assessed part of the degree. A group meeting is arranged in October to explain the process in more detail, followed by individual meetings to discuss particular arrangements with each student. Placements normally take place on Fridays, beginning in the middle of Term 1, although in practice arrangements are often more flexible. Students can opt for their placement to be taken as a block of several days per week. In this case we strongly advise students to begin placements no later than the start of Term 3, to leave adequate time for dissertation work and completion of the assessed placement report before the deadline at the end of June. Further details about placements and placement reports are set out in the ARCLG268 Museum Studies Placement course handbook. 8

11 TEACHING SCHEDULE The Museum Studies MA is an intensive twelve month programme. Taught courses are normally timetabled in the first two terms, though assessed work may be scheduled for submission in the third term, depending on which options have been selected. Full details of the timetable for each course are included in the course handbooks. Students are expected to use the remaining months to complete their placement and to work on their dissertation Part-time students For part-time students taking the MA over two years, there is some flexibility regarding which course components can be taken when. Part-time students should expect to be spending approximately half of their time on their studies (including attendance at UCL for lectures, seminars and workshops; contributing to group projects and presentations; and undertaking coursework and dissertation research). Part-time students employed in a museum are not required to undertake an additional work placement, but will need to discuss their strategy for completing the assessed placement report with Theano Moussouri. Participation in museum visits can be spread over both years. The recommended course structure for part-time students is as follows: Year 1 Year 2 Term 1 Term 2 Term 3 ARCLG064 The Museum: Critical Perspectives ARCLG148 Collections Management and Care ARCLG065 Managing Museums ARCLG190 Museum Communication Option course 1 (e.g. ARCLG192 Collections Curatorship ) Option course 2 (e.g. ARCLG191 Exhibition Project ) Preliminary dissertation work Placement report Dissertation Further information for part-time students is provided in Appendix 1. TEACHING METHODS This is a postgraduate course, and, as such, you are expected to be responsible for much of your own learning and study. A general overview of the programme and introduction to some of the extensive facilities available to graduate students at UCL will be provided in a session during induction week. Approach to teaching and learning Students will experience a variety of approaches to teaching and learning on the MA in Museum Studies, including formal lectures, small group discussions and seminars, workshops, student-led presentations, self-directed research and project work, 9

12 museum visits, etc. Term 1 core courses are taught on Tuesdays and Thursdays; most are available only to Museum Studies students, although ARCLG065 Managing Museums is open to students on other programmes, as are some option courses. During Term 1, occasional supplementary sessions may be scheduled on Wednesday afternoons. These are sometimes organised alongside ARCLG148 Collections Management and Care in order to provide students with additional opportunities to gain experience with object handling and complete their portfolio tasks for that course. Participation and group work Many courses are interactive in nature and students are expected to participate in class discussions and other activities. Some courses require that students meet in small groups outside the scheduled classes to work together on project work or prepare presentations. Learning to work effectively in groups, recognising one s own and others strengths and weaknesses, is an important skill. Much museum work relies on team effort and interpersonal skills. PREREQUISITES Students accepted onto the MA in Museum Studies are expected to have a good first degree, normally a 2:1 or above (or international equivalent), to be fluent in English, and to have experience of working in a museum or similar organisation, either as a volunteer or as an employee. For mature or part-time students suitable experience may be accepted as equivalent. DEGREE ASSESSMENT The Board of Examiners normally meets in November. At that time students who have completed all elements may be recommended for the aware of a degree. Degree results will be graded as a Distinction, Merit, Pass or Fail. The requirements for each grade are as follows: Distinction An award of a degree with Distinction will be made where: (a) the weighted arithmetic mean of the marks for all elements (the taught elements and the dissertation) is 70% or greater, and (b) the mark for the dissertation is 70% or greater, and (c) the mark for at least one whole taught element or two taught half elements is 70% or greater, and (d) there are no marks below 50%, and (e) all marks are based on first attempts and there are no re-sits. Merit 10

13 An award of a degree with Merit will be made where: (a) the weighted arithmetic mean of the marks for all elements is 60% or greater, and (b) the mark for the dissertation is 65% or greater, and (c) there are no marks below 50%, and (d) all marks are based on first attempts and there are no re-sits. Pass An award of Pass degree will be made where: (a) the weighted arithmetic mean of at least 75% of the marks for taught elements is 50% or greater and the marks for the remaining taught elements is 40% or greater, and (b) the mark for the dissertation is 50% or greater. (In other words, fail marks in the range 40-49% in up to 25% of the taught elements are condoned.) Fail A candidate will be considered to have failed the degree if the dissertation mark is less than 50% or the mark for any element is less than 40%. COURSEWORK Method of assessment This varies from course to course, but is always set out in the relevant course handbook. Each 15 credit course is normally assessed by means of a total of 4,000 words of coursework (or its equivalent in other forms of assessment). The nature and deadlines of individual assessments are defined in the handbooks of the individual courses, available from the relevant Course Coordinator. If students are unclear about the nature of an assignment, they should contact the Course Coordinator. The Course Coordinator will be willing to discuss an outline of their approach to the assessment, provided this is planned suitably in advance of the submission date. Originality and referencing All work submitted as part of the requirements for any examination (which includes all assessed work) of the University of London must be expressed in the student s own words and incorporate their own ideas and judgements. Plagiarism is defined as the presentation of another person s thoughts or words as though they are one s own. Plagiarism constitutes an examination offence under the University Regulations and students found to have committed plagiarism may be excluded from all further examinations of the University and/or College. ANY QUOTATION FROM THE PUBLISHED OR UNPUBLISHED WORKS OF OTHER PERSONS MUST BE IDENTIFIED AS SUCH BY PLACING THE QUOTE IN QUOTATION MARKS, AND THE SOURCE OF THE QUOTATION MUST BE REFERENCED APPROPRIATELY. The concept of plagiarism also includes self-plagiarism, which is the submission of identical or very similar work in more than one piece of coursework assessed as part of the degree without full citation of the location of its first submission. 11

14 To avoid charges of plagiarism or collusion, students must always ensure that their submitted work is their own and that the sources of all information are appropriately cited. They should not lend essays or essay drafts to other students because they might be penalised if the other student copies the work and submits it as their own. If students are unclear about the definition of plagiarism, they should review the notes on plagiarism and examples of good and bad practice with respect to sources, included in the MA/MSc Handbook, and consult their Programme Coordinator or Personal Tutor. Although each course is assessed independently of other courses, it is taken to be a principle is that students should not receive credit for the same work twice. Students should take care to ensure that the same or very similar work is not submitted for assessment more than once during their study for this degree: failure to do so could result in a reduction of their overall mark. If students are in any doubt, they should seek advice from the Programme Coordinator, or the relevant Course Coordinator. It is important that students reference their sources of information as accurately and as fully as possible. If a student summarises another person s ideas or judgements, or reproduces their figures or diagrams, a reference must be made in the text (using the Harvard convention) and all works referred to must be documented in full in a bibliography. Referencing styles are outlined in the MA/MSc Handbook. Presentation Essays and other assessed work must be word-processed (unless otherwise specified) and should be printed on one side of the paper, using 1.5-line spacing. Bibliographies may be in single line spacing. Adequate margins should be left for written comments by the examiner. Students are encouraged to use illustrations, diagrams and/or tables where appropriate. These should be clearly referred to at the appropriate point in the text, and if derived from another source, this must be clearly acknowledged. Students should adhere to word limits on essays; they are intended to help ensure equality of workloads between courses as well as to encourage the useful transferable skills of clearly structured arguments and succinct writing. College regulations require the imposition of penalties for overlength work: see below. UCL has published guidelines to staff and students on the use of non-discriminatory language (see You are reminded, in particular, to avoid the use of gender-biased terms in your written work. You are encouraged to use illustrations, diagrams and/or tables where appropriate. If they are derived from another source, this must be clearly acknowledged. You should adhere to word limits on essays; they are intended to help ensure equality of workloads between courses and to encourage the useful transferable skills of clearly structured argumentation and succinct writing. Marks will be deducted for over length essays. Submission of coursework 12

15 Students are required to submit hard copy of all coursework to the Course (not Programme) Coordinator s pigeon hole via the Red Essay Box at Reception by the appropriate deadline. Students should complete and staple a blue coversheet (available via the IoA website, from outside Room 411A or from the IoA library) to their coursework before submission. S should put their Candidate Number, not their name, on all coursework. They should also put their Candidate Number and course code on each page of their work. Please note that new, stringent penalties for late submission have been introduced UCL-wide from These are given below. Late submission will be penalized in accordance with these regulations unless permission has been granted and an Extension Request Form (ERF) completed. Unless otherwise stated in course handbooks, date-stamping will be via Turnitin (see below), so in addition to submitting hard copy, students must also submit their work to Turnitin by midnight on the day of the deadline. (This does not apply to some assessments such as the ARCLG148 portfolio and ARCLG192 project reports.) Information on how to upload work to Turnitin is provided in Appendix 2. Students who encounter technical problems submitting their work to Turnitin should the nature of the problem to ioa-turnitin@ucl.ac.uk in advance of the deadline in order that the Turnitin Advisors can notify the Course Coordinator that it may be appropriate to waive the late submission penalty. If there is any other unexpected crisis on the submission day, students should telephone or (preferably) the Course Coordinator, and follow this up with a completed ERF. UCL-wide penalties for late submission of coursework Please note the following penalties for late submission of coursework without permission. i) A penalty of 5 percentage marks should be applied to coursework submitted the calendar day after the deadline (calendar day 1). ii) A penalty of 15 percentage marks should be applied to coursework submitted on calendar day 2 after the deadline through to calendar day 7. iii) A mark of zero should be recorded for coursework submitted on calendar day 8 after the deadline through to the end of the second week of third term. Nevertheless, the assessment will be considered to be complete provided the coursework contains material than can be assessed. iv) Coursework submitted after the end of the second week of third term will not be marked and the assessment will be incomplete. vii) Where there are extenuating circumstances that have been recognised by the Board of Examiners or its representative, these penalties will not apply until the agreed extension period has been exceeded. 13

16 Students should note that these penalties may result in students failing an element and thus potentially failing the whole degree if a single item of assessed work is submitted more than seven days late. Turnitin In addition to providing date-stamping, Turnitin s primary function is to scan work for evidence of plagiarism. This system gives access to billions of sources worldwide, including websites and journals, as well as work previously submitted to the IoA, UCL and other universities. In common with most other UCL Departments, the Institute uses this system for the majority of assessed coursework for taught courses. Students submit hard copy of coursework in the normal way, but in most cases are also required to submit each piece electronically to Turnitin, which should be done before submission of the copy to be marked. The declaration that students sign on coursework coversheets includes a statement confirming that the work has been submitted to Turnitin. There are some Museum Studies course assessments which do not require submission of coursework to Turnitin (e.g. ARCLG148 portfolio and ARCLG192 project reports). Students should check individual course handbooks to confirm whether this is a requirement and ask their Course Coordinators if they have any doubt. Unless otherwise instructed, work which is not submitted to Turnitin will be subject to late submission penalties except in cases where the Turnitin Advisors have been notified of a technical problem. A Turnitin training session will take place in the first week of term, at which the procedures will be explained to new students, and you will be provided with the Turnitin code and password for submitting coursework for each course. The full content of the training sessions is given on the Institute website. Turnitin can be used to help you improve you work and avoid inadvertent plagiarism. In advance of submitting your coursework for marking you may, if you wish, run your work through the system in order to obtain a report on the originality of the wording and then make any necessary adjustments prior to final submission. Turnitin Advisors will be available to help you via . Contact ioa-turnitin@ucl.ac.uk if you need help generating or interpreting the reports. It is important to recognise that the final decision about whether work contains plagiarism rests with academic staff. Consequently, the presence or absence of matches in a Turnitin report does not, by itself, provide a guarantee that the work in question either contains or is free from plagiarism. Grading 14

17 The grading system for coursework is set out in the MA/MSc Handbook. The mark given by the initial examiner (prior to return) is a provisional assessment for the student s guidance, and may be modified after assessment by the second internal examiner or by the External Examiner. Timescale for return of marked coursework to students You can expect to receive your marked work within four calendar weeks of the official submission deadline. If you do not receive your work within this period, or a written explanation from the marker, you should notify the IoA s Academic Administrator, Judy Medrington. UCL-wide penalties for overlength coursework For submitted coursework, where a maximum length has been specified, the following procedure will apply: i) The length of coursework will normally be specified in terms of a word count ii) Assessed work should not exceed the prescribed length. iii) For work that exceeds the specified maximum length by less than10% the mark will be reduced by ten percentage marks; but the penalised mark will not be reduced below the pass mark, assuming the work merited a pass. iv) For work that exceeds the specified maximum length by 10% or more, a mark of zero will be recorded. The following should not be included in the word-count: bibliography, appendices, and tables, graphs and illustrations and their captions. Re-submission of coursework Students are not normally permitted to re-write and re-submit essays in order to try to improve their marks. However, in exceptional circumstances and with the approval of their Programme Coordinator, they may if they wish, submit an additional piece of coursework (on a new topic) to substitute for the first piece of written coursework submitted for their degree. Return of coursework All marked coursework must be returned to the Course Coordinator within two weeks of its return to students, so that it can be second-marked, and is available to the Board of Examiners. Because assessed work forms part of the student s permanent academic record, it needs to be retained until well after the completion of the degree. If work is not returned to the Course Coordinator, the student will be deemed not to have completed the course. Students should keep a copy of all work, and to make a copy for retention of all work after it has been assessed and commented upon by the first examiner, if they wish to make future reference to the comments on the work. 15

18 ORAL EXAMINATION All Master s students are required to attend an oral examination, normally as part of their dissertation assessment. This will usually be held in late May or early June. In it you will be asked to present and discuss your dissertation plans and work to date. You must submit to your dissertation supervisor and Programme Coordinator a completed dissertation oral exam form in advance of this meeting. The oral examination will be conducted by the Programme Coordinator and/or another academic staff member and will normally last for about 20 minutes. No marks are awarded for the oral examination: the assessment is satisfactory or unsatisfactory. Students may regard the examination as an additional dissertation progress meeting, albeit a mandatory one. Following the examination students are expected meet with their dissertation supervisors to discuss feedback. In the event of a problem being identified by the examiners you may be invited to attend a formal viva voce examination with the External Examiner for the degree also in attendance. Part-time students will normally be required to attend the oral examination in the year in which they submit their dissertation (usually Year 2). WORKLOAD The MA in Museum Studies is a very intensive course, and if you are a full time student you should be prepared for it to take up most of your time, certainly in Terms 1 and 2. The schedule of lectures, visits, placements and practical work for the programme as a whole is available at the programme Moodle site and distributed together with this handbook. Hours of teaching, study and other associated activities for each of the component courses are set out in the specific course handbooks. DYSLEXIA AND OTHER DISABILITIES If you have dyslexia or any other disability, please make your lecturers aware of this. Please discuss with them whether there is any way in which they can help you. Students with dyslexia are reminded to indicate this on each piece of coursework. Help is available with all kinds of learning difficulties (initially, see MOODLE UCL uses an online learning resource called Moodle. The Museum Studies programme Moodle site address is you should regard this site as the virtual home for your MA. The site contains 16

19 electronic copies of course documentation, timetables and schedules, and includes a message board, calendar of events, museum-related links and resources, as well as links to the Moodle sites for each of the individual core courses. Please visit the site frequently and make use of its many functions and resources. COMMUNICATION is the primary channel of communication within UCL. All correspondence relating to the MA and its component courses will use your UCL address only (this will be set up as part of the registration process). It is very important that you consult your UCL regularly. If you wish UCL messages to be forwarded to your personal or work address, you can set this up yourself from the support web pages. You should also set up your account such that your s show your actual name, rather than your user id number. It is important that you also regularly check the student pigeon holes in Room B12 of the Institute of Archaeology for written communications. Finally, please also ensure that you keep your contact details (especially your telephone number) up to date on UCL s Student Information System, Portico, in case you need to be contacted. Portico can be accessed at ATTENDANCE Registers will be taken at all classes, and Departments are required to report the attendance of each student to UCL Registry at frequent intervals throughout each term. If you are unable to attend a class, please the Course Coordinator to explain, in order to ensure that there is a record of the reasons for your absence. It is a College regulation that attendance at lectures, seminars and practicals be monitored. A 70% minimum attendance at all scheduled sessions is required (excluding absences due to illness or other adverse circumstances, provided that these are supported by medical certificates or other documentation, as appropriate). Students should also be aware that potential employers seeking references often ask about attendance and other indications of reliability. HEALTH AND SAFETY The Institute has a Health and Safety policy and code of practice which provides guidance on laboratory work, etc. This is revised annually and the latest edition is available at the IoA website. All work undertaken in the Institute is governed by these guidelines and students have a duty to be aware of them and to adhere to them at all times. This is particularly important in the context of any laboratory/field/placement work which will be undertaken as part of this degree. 17

20 FEEDBACK In trying to make this degree as effective as possible, we welcome feedback during the course of the year. Students will be asked to fill in progress forms at the end of each term, which the Programme Coordinator will discuss with them. These include space for comment on each of their courses. At the end of each course all students are asked to give their views on the course in an anonymous questionnaire, which will be circulated at one of the last sessions of the course. These questionnaires are taken seriously and help the Course Coordinator to develop the course. The summarised responses are considered by the Programme Coordinator, the Institute s Staff-Student Consultative Committee, Teaching Committee, and by the Faculty Teaching Committee. If students are concerned about any aspect of a specific course, we hope they will feel able to talk to the relevant Course Coordinator, but if they feel this is not appropriate or have more general concerns, they should consult their Programme Coordinator, Personal Tutor, or the Graduate Tutors (Andrew Bevan and Sue Hamilton). They may also consult the Academic Administrator (Judy Medrington), the Chair of Teaching Committee (Katherine Wright), or the Director (Stephen Shennan). INFORMATION AND LITERATURE Directories Museums Association Yearbook (published annually) See also ICOM s archived list of international directories at 18

21 Journals The most useful sources of current practice and theory are the journals. The UCL library subscribes to many journals online. You access them via the Library s list of electronic journals. The main international journals are: Curator: The Museum Journal (hard copy only) International Journal of Heritage Studies Journal of the History of Collections Journal of Material Culture Museum Anthropology Museum History Journal Museum International (formerly Museum, published by UNESCO) Museum and Society ( Museum Management and Curatorship (formerly International Journal of Museum Management and Curatorship) Visitor Studies Journal Additionally, most countries have their own national journals such as Museums Journal and Museum Practice (UK), Museum News and History News (USA), Muse (Canada), and there are specialised journals devoted to such subjects as conservation (Studies in Conservation) and education (Journal of Education in Museums). Books and readers The most important books are listed in the individual course handbooks and reading lists. Most are kept in the UCL Institute of Archaeology library; some in the Science or Main libraries. The Association of American Museums online bookstore ( provides an excellent listing of publications in print, most of which are in the Institute s library. Leicester University s bookshop also produces an annual museum studies catalogue which offers an invaluable list of books in print. There are an increasing number of readers available, which include reprints of important articles and/or specially commissioned articles on particular museum topics. These are often well worth investing in. Some recent examples include: Candlin, F. & Guins, R. (eds) The Object Reader. Abingdon: Routledge. Carbonell, B. (ed.) Museum Studies: An Anthology of Contexts. Oxford: Blackwell. Corsane, G. (ed.) Heritage, Museums and Galleries: An Introductory Reader. Abingdon: Routledge. Farago, C.J. & Preziosi, D. (eds) Grasping the World: The Idea of the Museum. Aldershot: Ashgate. Macdonald, S. (ed.) A Companion to Museum Studies. Oxford: Blackwell. Peers, L. & Brown, A.K. (eds), 2003, Museums and Source Communities: A Routledge Reader. London: Routledge. Tilley, C. et al. (eds) Handbook of Material Culture. London: Sage. Watson, S. (ed.) Museums and their Communities. Abingdon: Routledge. 19

22 Websites and online resources The programme Moodle site and individual course handbooks contain many links to helpful online resources. Some of the most useful are listed here. American Alliance of Museums (formerly American Association of Museums - American Institute for Conservation - Canadian Conservation Institute - Canadian Heritage Information Network - Collections Link - Collections Trust - Conservation Register - Cornucopia (collections in English museums) - Culture Global Museum (webzine with an eclectic range of topics) - Group for Education in Museums - Institute for Conservation - International Council of Museums (ICOM) - Museum Ethnographers Group - Museums Association - Museums, Libraries & Archives Council (MLA) - Natural Sciences Collections Association - Smithsonian Institution - Visitor Studies Group - Visitor Studies Association - Museum online discussion lists, blogs and jobs pages GEM [GEM@JISCMAIL.AC.UK] Leicester Museum Jobs Desk - Material World blog - Museum H-NET (vast membership, lots of job ads, European as well as American, conference announcements, some interesting enquiries, some book reviews, very good search facility - MUSEUM L (general museum practice. Lots of job ads, mainly American, some interesting questions - Museum 3.0 ning - Visitor Studies Association - vsa@list.pitt.edu Visitor Studies Group VSG@JISCMAIL.AC.UK 20

23 APPENDIX 1: Course overview for part-time students Course structure Part-time students take the Museum Studies MA over two years. Whilst there is some flexibility regarding which course components can be taken when, the recommended course structure for part-time students is as follows: Year 1 Year 2 Term 1 Term 2 Term 3 ARCLG064 The Museum: Critical Perspectives ARCLG148 Collections Management and Care ARCLG065 Managing Museums ARCLG190 Museum Communication Option course 1 (e.g. ARCLG192 Collections Curatorship ) Option course 2 (e.g. ARCLG191 Exhibition Project ) Preliminary dissertation work Placement report Dissertation Attendance Formal teaching and attendance is kept to Terms 1 and 2. Term 1 begins at the end of September; Term 2 normally ends in mid to late March. Term dates can be found on the UCL website ( The Term 1 core courses are timetabled so as to minimise the number of days parttime students need to attend the Institute for classes. Term 2 courses are, however, taught on different days of the week and students should therefore consult the teaching timetable available at the IoA website when choosing their options. In addition to formal teaching at the Institute, students should not underestimate the time required to undertake reading, coursework, dissertation research, and group activities that are not formally timetabled. Participation in group activities is integral to many elements of the programme. Part-time students employed in a museum are not required to undertake an additional work placement; those not employed in a museum are, however, expected to do this. All part-time students must submit a placement report. Participation in museum visits can be spread over both years. Dissertation Part-time students are not required to submit their dissertations until the end of their studies (September of their second year). For many, the most intensive period of work on their dissertation projects is Term 3 and the summer of Year 2. However, it is recommended that part-time students begin background reading and preliminary work on their dissertation in Year 1. Many part-time students integrate their dissertation research with their museum work. 21

24 APPENDIX 2: How to upload your work to Turnitin Note that Turnitin uses the term class for what we normally call a course. 1. Ensure that your essay or other item of coursework has been saved properly, and that you have the Class ID for the course (available from the course handbook or at and enrolment password (this is IoA1415 for all courses this session note that this is capital letter I, lower case letter o, upper case A, number 1, number 2, number 1, number 3). 2. Click on (NB Not which is the US site) or copy this URL into your web browser. 3. Click on New user. 4. Click on Enrol as a student. 5. Create an account using your UCL or other address. Note that you will be asked to specify a new password for your account do not use your UCL password or the enrolment password, but invent one of your own (Turnitin will permanently associate this with your account, so you will not have to change it every 3 months unlike your UCL password). Once you have created an account you can just log in at and enrol for your other classes without going through the new user process again. 6. You will then be prompted for the Class ID and enrolment password. 7. Click on the course to which you wish to submit your work. 8. Click on the correct assignment. 9. Double-check that you are in the correct course and assignment and then click Submit. 10. Enter your name (note that staff will not be able to see what you write until after they have graded your work) 11. Enter the submission title. It is essential that the first word in the title is your examination candidate number (e.g. YGBR8 In what sense can culture be said to evolve?) 10. Attach document. If you have problems, please the Turnitin Advisors at ioa-turnitin@ucl.ac.uk, explaining the nature of the problem and the exact course and assignment involved. One of the Turnitin Advisors will normally respond within 24 hours, Monday to Friday during term. Please be sure to the Turnitin Advisors if technical problems prevent you from uploading work in time to meet a submission deadline even if you do not obtain an immediate response from one of the Advisors they will be able to notify the relevant Course Coordinator that you had attempted to submit the work before the deadline. 22